Tuesday, December 1, 2009

American Eid

Coincidentally, Thanksgiving and Eid Al-Adha overlapped this year meaning that I had no work on Thanksgiving. To celebrate, we had an office party at Sir Brendan's. Nota beane: some of the following pictures are not too appetizing.

It's harder to come by turkey here so we went for that is very abundant these days in Cairo: lamb. Eid Al-Adha is a Muslim festival which commemorates Abraham's obedience to God when he was asked to sacrifice his son Isaac. It also marks the end of the Hajj, or the pilgrimage to Mecca. The eid is several days long and on the morning of the first day (which was this past Friday) lambs are slaughtered all over the city for some feastin'.

And so, we had lamb on Thursday night, the eve of the Eid. It was a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with laughter and happiness and I was very thankful for that. Sometimes I forget that it's currently the holiday season in America since it's still very hot here and there are no Christmas carols on repeat, 5 AM blockbuster door deals, and arguments over the use of "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays." Also, no apple cider. I bought some apple juice boiled it with cinammon and cloves (108 Governor Style) as my small contribution to our American Eid.

The lamb stuffed with onions and raisins ready to be roasted. Also known as Brendan's baby.

Our Thanksgiving meal.

Early morning, I woke up to thunder and lightning. It barely rains in Cairo so this was a big deal. Some of the streets in my area were muddy and a little flooded but there was a larger, more nasty issue that came with the rain.

Some people say that during Eid al-Adha, the streets of Cairo are filled with blood. This is not true. However, certain streets of Cairo are filled with blood, namely the ones in which the lambs are slaughtered. Because it rained, the blood mixed in with puddles of water making for some very unappealing sights.

A pool of blood and water. Gross.

Because of the eid, our office has an extended vacation (til next Monday!). Up next, adventures in Sinai!